Tribal Headquarters

History

The Grosventre separated from the Arapaho in the mid 1650's. Part of the tribe went to Canada and settled new Eagle Hills.

The tribe had early trade relations with the Cree Indians. The earliest recorded contact with non-Indians occurred in 1754.

In the 1780's and 1790 the tribe migrated to the Upper Missouri River. In so doing they encroached on the Crow Indians and came into conflict with the Cree and Assiniboin. They sought alliance with the Blackfeet Indians. The inter-tribal conflict led to 400 Grosventre Indians being killed by the Cree and Assiniboin in 1835 at Sweetgrass Hill.

A Treaty was signed in 1855 with the U.S. Government, at the mouth of Judith River, in the Territory of Nebraska, with the Grosventres, Blackfoot, Piegan, Blood, Flathead, and Nez Perce, which established a common hunting ground.

In the 1860s, inter-tribal conflicts caused war, and the tribe joined forces with the Crow to defeat the Blackfeet, who were once their allies. The tribe suffered a major loss to the Piegan Indians.

Fort Belknap was built about 1871 to provide a place for the Grosventres to receive their annuities and other supplies. While it was discontinued for two years from 1876 to 1878, it was re-established in the latter year.

Reservations

Records

Agencies

The following agencies of the Bureau of Indian Affairs had jurisdiction over the Grosventre for the time periods indicated. BIA agencies were responsible to keep such records as census rolls, allotment (land) records, annuity rolls, school records, correspondence, and other records of individual Indians under their jurisdiction. For details, see the page for the respective agency.

Superintendenies

Census Records

The Bureau of Indian Affairs compiled annual Indian Census Rolls on many of the reservations from 1885 to 1940. They list the names of individuals, their age, and other details about each person enumerated. For more information about these records, click here.

The following table lists the census rolls for the Grosventre Indians:

Agency

Location of Original Records

Post-1885 Census

M595 RG 75 -- 692 Rolls

Roll Numbers

FHL

Film Numbers

Fort Belknap, 1885-1939

Seattle

126-131

576481-486

Correspondence Records

There are several sets of correspondence between the supervising offices of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the local offices -- agencies, subagencies, etc. The correspondence is often historical in nature, including reports of the conditions among local groups of Indians, hostilities, plans for building facilities, activities of traders or missionaries, etc. Occasionally, there will be names of individuals but little detail about them. For more information about American Indian correspondence, click here.

The following table lists some correspondence relating to the Grosventre Indians:

Agency

Location of Original Records

Correspondence

M234 RG 75 -- 962 Rolls

Roll Numbers

FHL

Film

Number

Upper Missouri, 1824-66

Washington D.C.

883-888

-

Montana Superintendency 1864-80

Washington D.C.

488-518

-

Fort Berthold, 1867-80

Denver, Kansas City, Seattle

292-299

-

Treaties

During the latter part of the 18th Century and most of the 19th Century, treaties were negotiated between the federal government and individual Indian tribes. The treaties provide helpful information about the history of the tribe, but usually only include the names of those persons who signed the treaty. For more information about treaties, click here.

Tribal Office Records

The Tribal Office is responsible for enrollment records, vital records, tribal police records, tribal court records, employment records and many others. They are an entirely different set of records from those kept by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Most of them remain in the Tribal Office. For details, contact that office at the address for the Tribal Headquarters listed above.

Vital Records

Prior to the Indian Reorganization Act, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, through their agencies, may have recorded some vital events. Some were recorded on health forms, such as the "Sanitary Record of Sick, Injured, Births, Deaths, etc." Others were recorded as supplements to the "Indian Census Rolls." Some were included in the unindexed reports and other correspondence of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.